This invention relates to a capo for use with a stringed musical instrument, such as a guitar or banjo, having a neck and a set of strings extending along the length of the neck, the capo serving to hold the strings against the fingerboard surface of the neck to make the strings of shorter than normal open length. More particularly, the invention relates to a capo which is an improvement over previous capo designs especially with regard to the case with which it may be attached to or removed from an instrument neck or moved from one position to another along the neck.
When a capo is in use on an instrument neck, it is desirable that its string engaging portion securely and tightly press the strings against the surface of the fingerboard regardless of whether or not the fingerboard includes frets. This requires that the capo be clamped to the neck with a considerable clamping force, and in previous capo constructions this force has been obtained through the use of relatively cumbersome clamping utilizing screws, toggle levers, springs, elastic bands etc. which were difficult to handle or time consuming to manipulate. In particular, the constructions of previous capos have generally been such that the acts of attaching one to an istrument neck, removing it from the neck or shifting it from one position to a another along the neck have required the use of two hands and have further required the performer to shift the instrument from its normal playing position.
The general object of this invention is, therfore, to provide an improved capo which includes a simple rapid application and rapid release clamping mechanism allowing it to be rapidly applied, released or shifted relative to an instrument neck by a simple one-handed manual operation without moving the instrument from its normal playing position thereby allowing the capo to be quickly applied, released or shifted, and enabling such changes to be made during a performance, if need be, without substantial interruption of the performance.
A further object of this invention is to provide a capo of the foregoing character which is of a rugged construction and which when operatively in place serves to hold the strings tightly against the fingerboard surface.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a capo of the foregoing character which is capable of being clamped to neck sections of a wide range of different sizes thereby permitting it be used with various different sized necks and/or with a single neck having a cross section which varies substantially in sized in going from one end to the other.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and from the drawings forming a part hereof.